Top Gripping Article Carrier Having Brace Tab

ABSTRACT

A carton of the top gripping type comprising a plurality of main panels for forming a top wall ( 20 ), side walls ( 14, 18 ) and a bottom wall ( 16 ). The carton further comprising container receiving apertures ( 70   a   , 70   b   , 70   c   , 70   d ) formed in rows in the bottom wall for accommodating the bottles (C) held within the carton. The carton further comprising retaining structure for retaining the bottles within each aperture and an arrangement for urging the upper portions of the bottles held in one row to towards the upper portions of the bottles held in an adjacent row. The carton further comprising spacer ( 40, 90 ) provided to maintain the upper portions of the rows of bottles in spaced relationship and provided to counteract the displacement of the bottles due to the retaining structure such that a tensioned arrangement is provided in which the bottles are held and restricted from moving relative to one another.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a carton produced for packaging a plurality of articles, for example bottles. More particularly the invention relates to a carton of the top gripping type which attaches to the tops of the articles thereby securing the articles in an array. The invention also provides a means of restricting the movement of the bottles contained within the carton.

It is known to provide top gripping article carriers which comprise apertures for receiving articles. The articles are often held in place by retaining tabs which are formed from material used to create the apertures. The retaining tabs support the bottles by engaging an underside portion of a flanged portion of the bottle top. This arrangement only supports the upper portion of the bottles and the bottoms remain free to twist and move even when contained within the top gripping carton and the tabs are weakened by the unstable nature of the bottles within the carton so reducing its effectiveness.

A further problem is that a top gripping carton needs to be of sufficient strength to support the bottle. A rigid structure would address this problem but produces its own difficulties. In particular, a top panel and/or base panel do not provide requisite rigidity and sufficient strength to support the bottle. It is therefore desirable to have a top gripping carton which provides more support for the bottles contained within the carton. This is especially so when the bottles are contained in rows. When cartons containing two rows of bottles are lifted the bottles in one row often move with respect to the bottles held in the other row such that the two rows split away from one another which weakens the package. This can make the carton difficult to carry, often results in some of the more loosely held bottles falling from the carton and can even result in the carton tearing or ripping.

Known cartons of this type are disclosed in EP0541334 A1. This patent specification discloses a keel construction which is suitable for retaining and/or separating articles. However, the keels are somewhat complex to set up from a collapsed form in the carton blank. Several different embodiments of keels are shown and described however, each keel acts to separate two articles in adjacent rows is formed from at least two separate tabs which are struck from the base of the carton which panels are required to be interlocked for example at a co-operating tab and aperture in order to form an erected keel. In some embodiments the base of the carton is formed from two overlapping base panels which are also required to be interlocked and accordingly the formation of the carton and keel structure is fairly complex.

Another known carton which provides additional support for the bottles contained is U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,086, Foushee which also discloses a keel construction suitable for retaining and separating articles contained in two rows. A problem associated with such a carton is that the tops of the articles of one row are free to move towards articles held in the other rows even with the keel structure. This problem is partially overcome by having side panels which extend to a significant proportion of the article height, but this requires additional material which is uneconomical.

It is therefore desirable to have a top gripping carton which is strong and rigid and which provides support for the articles contained within. It is also desirable to have an article carrier which restricts the movement of the articles held within the carton and which is simple to construct and requires minimum material. It is also often desirable to have a carton where a top panel protects the tops of the articles having performable tops, for example yoghurt pots.

The invention seeks to avoid or at least mitigate these and other problems of the prior art. Positional support is provided to maintain the bottles at a fixed spacing and to prevent the rows of bottles from splitting apart.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect, the invention provides, a carton of the top gripping type, the carton comprising a plurality of main panels for forming a tubular structure, the main panels including a top wall, side walls and a bottom wall, the bottom wall comprising container receiving apertures arranged in rows in the bottom wall for accommodating containers, retaining means for retaining the containers within the apertures, said retaining means being structured to encourage upper portions of the containers held in one row to lean towards upper portions of containers held in an adjacent row and comprising spacing means to space said upper portions of the containers held in said one row from said upper portions of containers held in said adjacent row and to resist the tendency, caused by said retaining means, for said upper portions of containers held in one row to lean towards upper portions of containers held in an adjacent row such that the containers are restricted from moving relative to one another by said retaining means co-operating with said spacing means.

Preferably said retaining means comprises retaining tabs, at least one retaining tab being struck from the bottom wall from material taken to form each of two opposed container receiving apertures, each retaining tab being structured such that it has a shaped edge which engages an underside of an upper portion of a container thereby to urge an upper portion of that container toward an upper portion of a container held in an opposed container receiving aperture of said adjacent row.

Preferably, the or each retaining tab is hinged to the bottom wall along an arcuate fold line such that the bottom wall is deformed substantially convexly, when said retaining tab is folded out of the plane of said bottom wall along said arcuate fold line, said arcuate fold line being disposed transversely of the side walls of the carton.

Preferably, the end-to-end length of the bottom wall between the side walls, when the carton is in blank form, is longer than the end-to-end length of the top wall between the side walls, thereby to further encourage the bottom wall to deform convexly.

Additionally or alternatively, the bottom wall further comprises a weakened arrangement extending between adjacent rows of said container receiving apertures, said weakened arrangement comprising medial fold lines, said medial fold lines being substantially parallel with each other and with said side walls of the carton.

Preferably, said medial fold lines terminate, at each end of the bottom wall, at a pair of converging fold lines, said pairs of converging fold lines extending from said medial lines toward a free edge of the bottom wall.

Preferably said spacing means comprises a spacing tab, said spacing tab being struck from the bottom wall from material taken to form two opposed container receiving apertures and preferably said spacing tab comprises a wide end and a narrow end.

Preferably the spacing means further comprises first and second abutment tabs, said first abutment tab being struck from the bottom wall from material used to define one of said two opposed container receiving apertures, said second abutment tab being struck from the bottom wall from material used to define the other of said two opposed container receiving apertures, said spacing tab being hinged at said wide end to the first abutment tab and wherein said first and second abutment tabs are folded upwardly out of the plane of the bottom wall such that said spacing tab extends between the first and second abutment tabs and abuts the second abutment tab, thereby the spacing tab restricts movement of the first and second abutment tabs towards one another and thereby maintaining upper portions of the containers in the two apertures in a spaced relationship.

Preferably each of said first and second abutment tabs is secured by securing means to the top wall of the carton thereby to improve the structural rigidity of the carton.

Preferably in response to the insertion of a container into said container-receiving aperture, the spacing means is automatically erected into a position wherein the spacing tab extends between the first and second abutment tabs.

According to a second aspect, the invention provides a blank for forming a carton of the top gripping type, the blank comprising a plurality of main panels for forming a top wall, side walls and a bottom wall of the carton, the blank comprising container receiving apertures arranged in rows in the bottom wall of the carton for accommodating containers to be held within the carton, the blank further comprising retaining means for retaining the containers within the apertures and for urging upper portions of the containers held in one row of the set up carton towards upper portions of containers held in an adjacent row of the set up carton, the blank further comprising spacing means provided to maintain the upper portions of the containers in adjacent rows in spaced relationship such that the upper portions of the containers are urged by the retaining means against the spacing means, whereby the containers are held adjacent their tops by the retaining means and the spacing means so that they are restricted from moving relative to one another.

According to a third aspect, the invention provides carton of the top gripping type, the carton comprising a plurality of main panels for forming a tubular structure, the main panels including a top wall, side walls and a bottom wall, the bottom wall comprising container receiving apertures arranged in rows in the bottom wall for accommodating containers, such as bottles, the carton further comprising retaining means for retaining the containers within the apertures, the carton further comprising spacing means to maintain the upper portions of the containers in adjacent rows in spaced relationship, wherein the spacing means comprises a spacing tab struck from the bottom wall from material taken to form two opposed container receiving apertures, said container receiving apertures being respectively contained in said adjacent rows.

Preferably wherein said spacing means comprises first and second abutment tabs, said first abutment tab being struck from the bottom wall from material used to define one of said two opposed container receiving apertures, said second abutment tab being struck from the bottom wall from material used to define the other of said two opposed container receiving apertures, said spacing tab being hinged at one end to the first abutment tab, said first and second abutment tabs being folded upwardly out of the plane of the bottom wall such that said spacing tab extends between said first and second abutment tabs and abuts said second abutment tab, thereby the spacing tab restricts movement of the first and second abutment tabs towards one another thereby maintains upper portions of the containers in the two apertures in a spaced relationship.

Preferably wherein each of the first and second abutment tabs is secured by securing means to the top wall to improve the rigidity of the carton.

Preferably wherein in response to the insertion of a container into each of said two opposed container-receiving apertures, said spacing means automatically is erected into a position wherein the spacing tab extends between the first and second abutment tabs.

According to a fourth aspect, the invention provides a carton of the top gripping type, the carton comprising a plurality of main panels for forming a tubular structure, the main panels including a top wall, side walls and a bottom wall, the bottom wall comprising container receiving apertures arranged in two rows in the bottom wall for accommodating containers, such as bottles, the carton further comprising retaining means for retaining the containers within the apertures, wherein the retaining means comprises retaining tabs formed from the bottom wall to define the container receiving apertures, the retaining tabs are structured such that each of the retaining tabs engages an underside of an upper portion of the container held in the associated aperture thereby to secure the containers within the carton, wherein at least two of the retaining tabs which define two adjacent apertures in the two rows respectively are hinged to the bottom wall along arcuate fold lines respectively such that the bottom wall is deformed when the two retaining tabs are folded along the arcuate fold lines, which fold lines are disposed transversely of the side walls of the carton, and wherein the deformation of the bottom wall caused by the folding of the two retaining tabs is such that the bottom wall is folded convexly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blank for forming a carton for containing bottles;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the blank of FIG. 1 arranged around a group of bottles in preparation of constructing the carton;

FIG. 3 is a perspective front, side and top view of a stage in the construction of a carton from the blank of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective front, side and top view of a second stage in the construction of a carton from the blank of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective front, side and top view of the carton formed from the blank of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings, and in particular FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a carton blank 10 for forming a top gripping carton made from paper board or similar foldable sheet material. The blank 10 comprises glue flap 12, first side panel 14, base panel 16, second side panel 18, and top panel 20, hingably connected one to the next along fold lines 22, 24, 26 and 28 respectively.

Turning to the Figures, a blank 10 is shown in FIG. 1; the blank 10 may be formed from paperboard or other suitable sheet material that can be folded to construct a carton 100, which is shown in FIG. 5. The carton 100, of the present embodiment is used for packaging beverage containers C, such as plastic drinking yoghurt bottles, which have flanged tops. The containers C are arranged in two rows of two containers each, however, the carton 100 may be appropriately dimensioned and arranged to hold a greater number or fewer containers, although preferably the containers C will be arranged in pairs.

The blank 10 of FIG. 1, comprises a series of main panels for forming the walls of the carton 100. The main panels include a top panel 20, first side panel 18, bottom panel 16, second side panel 14 and glue panel 12, hinged one to the next in series along fold lines 28, 26, 24 and 22 respectively. The bottom panel 16 is provided with four article receiving apertures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d (FIG. 3). Each article receiving aperture 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d is struck from the bottom panel 16 and sized to receive an upper portion or flanged top of a container C. To secure the upper portion of a container C within each article receiving aperture 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d, an article retention structure is provided. Each aperture 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d is provided with a series of retaining tabs 30 a/30 b/30 c/30 d, 32 a/32 b/32 c/32 d, 34 a/34 b/34 c/34 d, and abutment tabs 36 a/36 b/36 c/36 d and to maintain the containers C in spaced relationship, between each pair of article receiving apertures 70 a/70 b and 70 c/70 d, a spacing tab 40, 90 is provided. Together the retaining tabs 30 a/30 b/30 c/30 d, 32 a/32 b/32 c/32 d, 34 a/34 b/34 c/34 d, abutment tabs 36 a/36 b/36 c/36 d and spacing tabs 40, 90 form the retaining structure.

An enlarged view of the bottom panel 16 is illustrated in FIG. 1A so that the features of the bottom panel 16 and article receiving apertures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, and 70 d can be more clearly seen. Since the opposite pairs of article receiving apertures, 70 a/70 b and 70 c/70 d are similar, a detailed description of only one pair of article receiving apertures 70 a/70 b is provided, it being understood that the other pair of article receiving apertures 70 c/70 d is similar.

The bottom panel 16 is additionally provided with a weakened arrangement or central portion 72 which extends between the article receiving apertures 70 a/70 c and 70 b/70 d. The central portion 72 is defined by a pair of medial fold lines 56, 58, which are substantially parallel with each other and with the side walls 14, 18. The medial fold lines 56, 58 terminate with pairs of arcuate converging fold lines 66 a/66 c, 66 b/66 d. The central portion 72 is defined by the folds 56, 58 66 a/66 c, 66 b/66 d such that it is tapered at each of its ends. In other embodiments the fold lines 66 a/66 c, 66 b/66 d may not be arcuate but may be more angled and square.

Turning now to the retaining tabs 30 a/30 b, 32 a/32 b, 34 a/34 b and abutment tabs 36 a/36 b of the pair of apertures 70 a and 70 b; outer retaining tabs 30 a and 30 b are struck from material used to form the apertures 70 a and 70 b and are hinged to the first and second side panels 12, 14 along portions 50 a and 50 b of the fold lines 26 and 24. The outer retaining tabs 30 a and 30 b are folded out of the plane of the bottom panel 16, when the carton 100 is loaded with containers C and fully constructed. In the completed carton 100, the outer retaining tabs engage an underside of the top portion or flange of a container C received in the aperture 70 a, 70 b.

Similarly, side retaining tabs 34 a, 32 a and 34 b, 32 b are struck from material used to form the apertures 70 a and 70 b and can also engage an underside of the flange of a container C placed within the aperture 70 a, 70 b. The side retaining tabs 34 a, 32 a and 34 b, 32 b remain hinged to the bottom panel 16 along arcuate fold lines 54 a, 52 a and 54 b, 52 b respectively.

Finally inner retaining tabs or abutment tabs 36 a and 36 b are provided, which are also struck from material used to form the apertures 70 a and 70 b. The inner retaining tabs or abutment tabs 36 a and 36 b are hinged along portions of the fold lines 56 and 58 respectively, to the central portion 72 of the bottom panel 16. The abutment tabs 36 a and 36 b are each provided with an intermediate fold line 60 and 62 respectively. The abutment tabs 36 a and 36 b are folded about fold lines 60 and 62 when the blank 10 is erected into the carton 100.

Together the retaining tab fold lines 50 a, 50 b 52 a, 52 b, 54 a, 54 b and the portions of fold lines 56 and 58 define edges of the apertures 70 a and 70 b which are substantially oval in shape. In other embodiments of the invention, it is envisaged that the article receiving apertures 70 a, 70 b may be alternatively shape, for example more rounded and substantially circular or indeed more angled and substantially hexagonal. In this embodiment of the invention the inner retaining tab 30 a shares common edges 65 and 67 with the adjacent side retaining tabs 34 a and 32 a. Similarly the abutment tab 36 a shares common edges 61 and 63 with the side retaining tabs. In this way all of the material used to form the aperture 70 a is utilised for forming the retaining tabs 30 a, 32 a, 34 a and the abutment tab 36 a, although it is envisaged that the aperture 70 a and retaining tabs may be sized differently to accommodate containers C of a variety of shapes and sizes.

To complete the article retaining structure, the spacing tab 40 is formed between the article receiving apertures 70 a and 70 b. The spacing tab 40 extends between the intermediate fold line 62 of abutment tab 36 b of one article receiving aperture 70 b and the intermediate fold line 60 of the abutment tab 36 a of the other article receiving aperture 70 a. The spacing tab 40 is shaped such that a narrower arm portion 43 is struck from the abutment tab 36 a and central portion 72. A wider portion 41 is struck solely from the opposing abutment tab 36 b and has shoulder portions 47. The wider portion 41 remains hinged along the intermediate fold line 62 to the abutment tab 36 b. The narrower end 43 of the spacing tab 40 is defined by cut line 45. The other pair of article receiving apertures 70 c and 70 d is similar to the apertures 70 a and 70 b as described above with the exception that the spacing tab 90 is oriented oppositely to spacing tab 40. The wide part 91 of spacing tab 90 is therefore hinged to intermediate fold line 82. When the carton 100 is erected from the blank 10, the spacing tabs 40 and 90, together maintain the pairs of abutment tabs 36 a/36 b and 36 c/36 d in spaced relationship, separated by the length of the wider portion 41, 91 of the spacing tab 40, 90.

Turning to the construction of the carton 100 from blank 10, a series of sequential folding and gluing operations are required, which preferably can be performed in a straight line machine, so that the carton 40 and/or blank 10 are not required to be rotated or inverted to complete the construction. The folding process is not limited to that described below and can be altered according to particular manufacturing requirements.

The first step in constructing the carton involves arranging the containers C, which are to be held within the carton, into an array such that the tops of the containers can be aligned with an article receiving aperture 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d of the blank 10. An arranged array of containers C is illustrated in FIG. 2. The blank 10 is placed on top of the array so that the top of each article is aligned with an article receiving aperture 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, and 70 d.

The bottom panel 16 is then lowered onto the arranged containers C such that the upper portions of the containers C are pushed through the article receiving apertures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d thus causing the tabs 30 a/32 a/34 a/36 a, 30 b/32 b/34 b/36 b, 30 c/32 c/34 c/36 c, 30 d/32 d/34 d/36 d of each article receiving aperture 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d to fold about their respective hinge lines 50 a/52 a/54 a/56 a, 50 b/52 b/54 b/56 b, 50 c/52 c/54 c/56 c and 50 d/52 d/54 d/56 d, out of the plane of the bottom panel 16 and outwardly with respect to the centre of the aperture 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d. The insertion of the containers C into the article receiving apertures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, and 70 d also causes the spacing tabs 40, 90 to be automatically folded out of the plane of the bottom panel 16, as shown in FIG. 3. Ends of the narrower portions 43 and 93 of the spacing tab 40 and 90 are pushed up by the containers C being inserted into diagonally opposite article receiving apertures 70 a and 70 d. Insertion of a container C into each of the other apertures 70 b and 70 c causes the wider portions 41, 91 of the spacing tabs 40, 90 to also be folded upwardly with respect to the bottom panel 16 and toward the opposite aperture 70 d, 70 a respectively.

The upper portions of the containers C are pushed further into the apertures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d as the bottom panel 16 is lowered further towards the bottom of the containers C as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. As the side retaining tabs 32 a, 32 b, 32 c, 32 d and 34 a, 34 b, 34 c, 34 d are folded about the arcuate fold lines 52 a, 52 b, 52 c, 52 d and 54 a, 54 b, 54 c, 54 d the bottom panel 16 is caused to deform or bend. In this embodiment the bending or deforming of the bottom wall 16 is steered along the arcuate fold lines 52 a, 52 b, 52 c, 52 d and 54 a, 54 b, 54 c, 54 d such that the bottom panel 16 bends upwardly and convexly. The bending of the bottom wall 16 can be seen most clearly in FIG. 4. The length of the arcuate fold lines and the length of side retaining tabs 32 a, 32 b, 32 c, 32 d and 34 a, 34 b, 34 c, 34 d causes the bottom wall 16 to deform. In this embodiment the arcuate fold lines extend from the edge between the side wall and the bottom wall to the central portion 72.

The bending or deformation of the bottom wall 16 is also encouraged by the parallel fold lines 56, 58 of the central portion 72 and convergent fold lines 66 a, 66 b, 66 c, 66 d. The deformation of the bottom panel 16 may also be encouraged by the bottom panel 16 being slightly longer than the top panel 20/12 when the carton is fully erected. As the bottom panel deforms upper portions of the containers (C) may be encouraged to lean towards each other. The shape of the side retaining tabs 32 a, 32 b, 32 c, 32 d and 34 a, 34 b, 34 c, 34 d may also encourage the upper portions of the containers (C) to lean towards each other. The side retaining tabs 32 a, 32 b, 32 c, 32 d and 34 a, 34 b, 34 c, 34 d have an upper edge which engages the underside of an upper portion or flange of the bottle neck.

As the carton is fully formed around the containers (C), the spacer tabs 40 and 90 are disposed in between opposite pairs of article receiving apertures and extend horizontally therebetween. The narrower portions 43, 93 of the spacing tabs 40, 90 are pushed into apertures formed in the abutment tabs 36 a and 36 b respectively. As the sides 14, 18 of the carton 100 are erected and folded out of the plane of the bottom wall 16 and as the containers (C) are fully inserted into the apertures 70 a, 70 b, 70 c and 70 d, the narrower portions 43 and 93 reach the limit of their travel. The wider portions 41 and 91 of the spacing tabs 40 and 90 abut the corresponding abutment tab 36 a and 36 b.

The carton 100 is completely erected around the group or array of containers (C) by applying adhesive to upper folded portions of the abutment tabs 36 a, 36 b, 36 c and 36 d and to folded glue panel 12. Top panel 20 is then folded about fold line 28 so that it overlays the tops of each container C, and so that it becomes secured to each positioned inner retaining tab and the glue panel 12. A fully erected carton 100 is shown in FIG. 5.

The carton 100 may then be lifted by grasping the top wall 20 and the containers (C) will each depend from the carton 100, held securely and rigidly. Upper portions of the containers (C) held in one row are, to some extent, encouraged to lean towards containers held in the other row. This tendency is opposed or restricted by the spacing tabs 40, 90 which serve to maintain separation between the container tops. Additionally, the upper portions of the containers in each row are restricted from moving away from each other by the side wall panels and by the side retaining tabs 32 a, 32 b, 32 c, 32 d and 34 a, 34 b, 34 c, 34 d which are inclined at their outer edges and in fact encourage the containers to move in the opposite direction.

The nature of the deformation of the bottom panel 16 and the central portion 72 restricts the bottom panel from creasing along an axis between containers held within the same row i.e. the carton cannot easily be bent along a notional line perpendicular to the side walls 14, 16 and fold lines 56, 58 and this can restrict any movement of the containers held in one row relative to another container (c) held within the same row. The carton of the present invention can therefore accommodate a plurality of containers, such as bottles and hold the bottles rigidly and securely. By restricting the movement of the bottles the strength and rigidity of the carton is preserved. The carton is further strengthened by the inner retaining tabs being secured to the top panel.

It can be appreciated that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention, for example, the size and shape of the panels may be adjusted to accommodate articles of differing size or shape. The bottom panel may be provided with more or less article receiving apertures to accommodate a different number of bottles and indeed the apertures may be arranged in a greater number of rows. Other variations may also be made within the scope of the invention. For example spacing tabs may be provide only between every other opposed pair of apertures and the spacing tabs may be arranged in the same orientation. Furthermore the inner retaining tabs 32 a, 32 b, 32 c, 32 d and 34 a, 34 b, 34 c and 34 d may be shaped differently and the hinge lines 52 a, 52 b, 52 c, 52 d and 54 a, 54 b, 54 c, 54 d may be more angled rather than substantially arcuate.

It will be recognised that as used herein, directional references such as “top”, “bottom”, “front”, “back”, “end”, “side”, “inner”, “outer”, “upper” and “lower” do not limit the respective panels to such orientation, but merely serve to distinguish these panels from one another. Any reference to hinged connection should not be construed as necessarily referring to a single fold line only; indeed it is envisaged that hinged connection can be formed from one or more of the following, a score line, a frangible line or a fold line without departing from the scope of the invention.

The following paragraph is a statement of invention:

A carton of the top gripping type, the carton comprising a plurality of main panels for forming a tubular structure, the main panels including a top wall, side walls and a bottom wall, the bottom wall comprising container receiving apertures arranged in rows in the bottom wall for accommodating containers, such as bottles, the carton further comprising retaining means for retaining the containers within the apertures and for urging upper portions of the containers held in one row to towards upper portions of the containers held in an adjacent row, the carton further comprising spacing means to maintain the upper portions of the containers in adjacent rows in spaced relationship such that the upper portions of the containers are urged by the retaining means against the spacing means whereby the containers are held adjacent their tops by the retaining means and the spacing means so that they are restricted from moving relative to one another. 

1-19. (canceled)
 20. A top-gripping carton comprising: a plurality of main panels for forming a tubular structure, the main panels including a top wall, side walls and a bottom wall, the bottom wall comprising container-receiving apertures arranged in rows in the bottom wall for accommodating containers; a retaining arrangement for retaining the containers within the container-receiving apertures and for encouraging upper portions of the containers held in one row to lean toward upper portions containers held in an adjacent row; and a spacing structure to maintain the upper portions of the containers in adjacent rows in spaced apart relationship and to resist the tendency to movement of the upper portions of the containers as encouraged by the retaining arrangement, wherein the spacing structure comprises a spacing tab formed at least in part from one or both of a pair of abutment tabs, the spacing structure being automatically erected in response to insertion of containers such that the spacing tabs extend between the abutment tabs, whereby the containers are held adjacent tops thereof by the retaining arrangement and by the spacing structure such that containers are restricted from moving relative to one another.
 21. The carton according to claim 20 wherein said spacing structure comprises first and second abutment tabs, said first abutment tab being struck from the bottom wall to define one of said two opposed container receiving apertures, said second abutment tab being struck from the bottom wall to define the other of said two opposed container receiving apertures, said spacing tab being hinged at one end to the first abutment tab, said first and second abutment tabs being folded upwardly out of the plane of the bottom wall such that said spacing tab extends between said first and second abutment tabs and abuts said second abutment tab, thereby the spacing tab restricts movement of the first and second abutment tabs towards one another thereby maintains upper portions of the containers in the two apertures in a spaced relationship.
 22. The carton according to claim 21 wherein each of the first and second abutment tabs is secured by securing means to the top wall to improve the rigidity of the carton.
 23. The carton according to claim 22 wherein in response to the insertion of a container into each of said two opposed container receiving apertures, said spacing structure automatically is erected into a position wherein the spacing tab extends between the first and second abutment tabs.
 24. A top-gripping carton comprising a plurality of main panels for forming a tubular structure, the main panels including a top wall, side walls and a bottom wall, the bottom wall comprising container receiving apertures arranged in rows in the bottom wall for accommodating containers, a retaining arrangement for retaining the containers within the apertures, said retaining arrangement comprising retaining tabs and being structured to encourage upper portions of the containers held in one row to lean towards upper portions of containers held in an adjacent row wherein the retaining tabs comprise arcuate fold lines and central portion of the bottom wall is defined by a pair of fold lines wherein said fold lines terminate at, at least one end in converging fold lines and comprising a spacing structure to space said upper portions of the containers held in said one row from said upper portions of containers held in said adjacent row and to resist the tendency, caused by said retaining arrangement, for said upper portions of containers held in one row to lean towards upper portions of containers held in an adjacent row such that the containers are restricted from moving relative to one another by said retaining arrangement co-operating with said spacing structure.
 25. The carton according to claim 24 wherein said retaining arrangement comprises retaining tabs, at least one retaining tab being struck from the bottom wall from material taken to form each of two opposed container receiving apertures, each retaining tab being structured such that it has a shaped edge which engages an underside of an upper portion of a container thereby to urge an upper portion of that container toward an upper portion of a container held in an opposed container receiving aperture of said adjacent row.
 26. The carton according to claim 25 wherein the or each retaining tab is hinged to the bottom wall along an arcuate fold line such that the bottom wall is deformed substantially convexly, when said retaining tab is folded out of the plane of said bottom wall along said arcuate fold line, said arcuate fold line being disposed transversely of the side walls of the carton.
 27. The carton according to claim 26 wherein the end-to-end length of the bottom wall between the side walls, when the carton is in blank form, is longer than the end-to-end length of the top wall between the side walls, thereby to further encourage the bottom wall to deform convexly.
 28. The carton according to claim 24 wherein the bottom wall further comprises a weakened arrangement extending between adjacent rows of said container receiving apertures said weakened arrangement comprising medial fold lines, said medial fold lines being substantially parallel with each other and with said side walls of the carton.
 29. The carton according to claim 28 wherein said medial fold lines terminate, at each end of the bottom wall, at a pair of converging fold lines, said pairs of converging fold lines extending from said medial lines toward a free edge of the bottom wall.
 30. The carton according to claim 24 wherein said spacing structure comprises a spacing tab, said spacing tab being struck from the bottom wall from material taken to form two opposed container receiving apertures.
 31. The carton according to claim 30 wherein said spacing tab comprises a wide end and a narrow end.
 32. The carton according to claim 31 wherein the spacing structure further comprises first and second abutment tabs, said first abutment tab being struck from the bottom wall from material used to define one of said two opposed container receiving apertures, said second abutment tab being struck from the bottom wall from material used to define the other of said two opposed container receiving apertures, said spacing tab being hinged at said wide end to the first abutment tab and wherein said first and second abutment tabs are folded upwardly out of the plane of the bottom wall such that said spacing tab extends between the first and second abutment tabs and abuts the second abutment tab, thereby the spacing tab restricts movement of the first and second abutment tabs towards one another and thereby maintaining upper portions of the containers in the two apertures in a spaced relationship.
 33. The carton according to claim 32 wherein each of said first and second abutment tabs is secured by securing means to the top wall of the carton thereby to improve the structural rigidity of the carton.
 34. The carton according to claim 33 where, in response to the insertion of a container into said container-receiving aperture, the spacing structure is automatically erected into a position wherein the spacing tab extends between the first and second abutment tabs.
 35. The carton according to claim 20 wherein the or a spacing tab comprises an end portion adapted to be brought into contact with and pushed upwardly by the top of one of the containers when the containers are received in the receiving apertures.
 36. A blank for forming a top-gripping carton, the blank comprising a plurality of main panels for forming a tubular structure, the main panels including a top wall, side walls and a bottom wall, the bottom wall comprising container-receiving apertures arranged in rows in the bottom wall for accommodating containers, the blank further comprising a retaining arrangement for retaining the containers within the apertures and for encouraging upper portions of the containers held in an adjacent row, the blank further comprising a spacing structure to maintain the upper portions of the container in adjacent rows in spaced apart relationship and to resist the tendency to movement of the upper portions of the containers encouraged by the retaining arrangement, the spacing structure comprising a spacing tab formed at least in part from one or both of a pair of abutment tabs, the spacing structure being automatically erected in response to insertion of containers such that the spacing tabs extend between the abutment tabs, whereby the containers are held adjacent tops thereof by the retaining arrangement and by the spacing structure such that the containers are restricted from moving relative to one another.
 37. The blank according to claim 36 wherein the or a spacing structure comprises an end portion adapted to be brought into contact with and pushed upwardly by the top of one of the containers when the containers are received in the receiving apertures,
 38. A top-gripping carton comprising: a plurality of main panels for forming a tubular structure, the main panels including a top wall, side walls and a bottom wall, the bottom wall comprising container receiving apertures arranged in two rows in the bottom wall for accommodating containers; and a retaining arrangement for retaining the containers within the apertures, wherein the retaining arrangement comprises retaining tabs formed from the bottom wall to define the container receiving apertures, the retaining tabs comprising arcuate fold lines and being structured such that each of the retaining tabs engages an underside of an upper portion of the container held in the associated aperture thereby to secure the containers within the carton, wherein at least two of the retaining tabs which define two adjacent apertures in the two rows respectively are hinged to the bottom wall along said arcuate fold lines and wherein a central portion of the bottom wall is defined by a part of fold lines wherein said fold lines terminate at least one end in converging fold lines respectively such that the bottom wall is deformed when the two retaining tabs are folded along the arcuate fold lines, which fold lines are disposed transversely of the side walls of the carton, and wherein the deformation of the bottom wall caused by the folding of the two retaining tabs is such that the bottom wall is folded convexly. 